


J is for Jacking

by Jazzie



Series: A to Z of Danny Whump! [10]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 00:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9409718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzie/pseuds/Jazzie
Summary: A stakeout that should have been straight forward is anything but for Danny.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Some naughty words, because Danny has a potty mouth when he's annoyed!

**J is for Jacking**

“Danny will take Kahala Mall and Liang’s; Kono, Waikiki Shopping Plaza and Bijoux de Plaza and I’ll take Royal Hawaiian Center and Cartier.  Chin I want you here at the Palace co-ordinating.  The intel we have says those armed robbers that hit Tiffany’s at Ala Moana will hit one of these three stores tomorrow morning,” Steve and the 5-0 team were gathered around the computer table in their offices, discussing the plan for an operation the next morning, that would hopefully nail a group of armed robbers.

“I’ve spoken to HPD and each of us will have six plain clothes officers on the ground at the malls with us, plus several available units in the vicinity as we don’t know exactly which jewellers they’re going to hit,” Danny supplied.  “I’ve done a full brief with each of the teams so they know where they need to be and when they need to be there.”

“If there’s no action by 10:00 AM then it’s unlikely that they’re gonna hit.  Going by what happened at Tiffany’s they entered the mall early with employees and hit the store just before opening time when they followed a member of the staff,” Kono reminded the others.

“These people are well organised but they weren’t violent.  They managed to enter and leave Tiffany’s with the minimum amount of threats to the staff, if you see something, report it but don’t try to apprehend them until after they’ve left the store,” instructed Steve.  The last thing any of them wanted was a hostage situation.

“I’ve got all the communication gear tested and ready to go.  Meet here at 07:00 AM tomorrow morning and I’ll get you and HPD hooked up,” Chin informed his boss.

“Sounds good.  I think we’re ready, or at least as ready as we can be.  Call it a day now and meet here tomorrow at 07:00 AM.”

The team wished each other a good night and went their separate ways.  Steve was going to enjoy a run and a swim; Kono was going surfing; Chin was going to meet with Malia for dinner and Danny was going to spend the evening with Grace.  Tomorrow’s operation was no more dangerous than any other but they were in the unfortunate situation where the team was going to be split up, as they needed someone to lead the teams at each shopping center, it wasn’t something that any of them liked but it wasn’t the first time and likely wouldn’t be the last.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Each member of 5-0 was exactly where they needed to be; now all they could do was wait and see where the armed robbers showed.  They had all been at their individual locations by 08:00 AM, which was the time the malls allowed cleaning crews in from.  Nobody knew how the robbers had made it into Ala Moana but it seemed likely that it was at the same time as the janitorial staff.  They could then have hidden until the appropriate moment.

Steve, Danny and Kono were all in the security offices of their assigned shopping center.  They had distributed the HPD officers throughout the mall at discreet locations and the heads of security were with them ready to identify anyone who looked out of place.

It was just gone 09:45 AM and they were all beginning to think that this was a bust and not in a good way; they thought their intel was wrong, until the Head of Security at Kahala Mall spotted something, or rather people, out of place.

“Detective Williams, those four people,” he pointed to one of the monitors, “I haven’t managed to catch sight of their faces on any of the cameras.”

“Like they know where they are and how to avoid them?”

“Exactly.”

Danny wasted no time and keyed the mic at his wrist, “We’ve got a possibility,” he informed both his own team and those at the other two malls, “Stand by.”

The Head of Security watched as a young girl walked towards the four he had identified, “She works at Liang.”

They watched as she neared the group and were both disappointed and pleased when the group surrounded her, “Contact has been made with a member of Liang’s staff.  All units move to block the exits.  We don’t know if there are any other accomplices so keep your eyes open.  Nobody is to approach the store or any of the robbers until they are clear of the area.  I can’t see if they have any weapons so don’t take any chances,” Danny’s voice was calm and firm, “I’m heading out to the exit nearest the store with Kealoha.”

He left the security office with an HPD officer following close on his heels, “Be careful Danny, we can’t free up resources from either of the other malls until we can confirm that there are gonna be no attempts made there,” Steve warned his partner.  Nobody knew just how many armed robbers were in this gang and it was possible, if a little improbable, that they may hit two malls at the same time.

“Copy that.”

Unobtrusively, both Danny and Officer Kai Kealoha slipped round the outside of the mall until they reached the exit nearest the store where they remained out of sight.

Just before 10:00 AM the radio in Danny’s ear crackled to life, “Suspects are leaving the store… Crap!...”

“Report!” barked Danny

“They must have spotted something they’ve taken off running.  They’ve split up.  One is coming your way Danny,” the voice over the radio was slightly distorted as the owner was running.

“Dammit!” Danny was not happy, somehow their carefully planned op had been jeopardised, he’d find out how later but now all that mattered was apprehending these four and any accomplices.  He turned to Kai, “Keep out of sight and remember we don’t know what weapons these people have.”

“Got it,” Kai checked his own weapon before ensuring he couldn’t be seen by anyone who might have been coming out the exit just in front of them.

They didn’t have to wait long before the door swung open with such force that it slammed into the wall and the glass cracked.  A man dressed in all black ran straight out into the parking lot where Danny and Kai were waiting.

“5-0, stop where you are…”

The sentence was never completed as shots were fired in their direction, ‘ _Guess that answers the question about whether they’re armed_ ,’ thought Danny.  He indicated to Kai that he should go round to the right while he actually took the more direct, and therefore more dangerous, route. 

Danny had a good look at the man he was now trying to capture.  At about five foot eight the man wasn’t much taller than him but lacked the build of the New Jersey Detective.  He was close enough to make out that the man had a mop of dark hair and cold grey eyes.  Of course being this close meant that he was in infinite danger of getting himself shot if he didn’t keep to the cover of the parked cars, as was demonstrated as a window of the SUV he was behind shattered with the impact of a bullet.

“God damn it!  You aren’t getting out of here so give it up already!” The only answer he received was another gunshot.  The man had to run out of bullets soon, right?  Danny heard the distinct click of an empty gun and grinned, stepping out of cover just enough to take his own shot.  Sadly for him the man had managed to find cover of his own and clearly had more ammo and had reloaded his gun as another window on the vehicle shattered.

Hearing a car approaching Danny sighed in relief, thinking it was going to be back up in the form of HPD, when he peered out he was horrified to see that it wasn’t a police cruiser but a car with a civilian behind the wheel and there was nothing he could do without getting himself shot.  Luckily Kai had managed to get round to the other side and drew the gunman’s fire away from the civilian long enough that. as it drove by it wasn’t caught in any cross fire. 

Danny was beyond livid, “SHUT DOWN THE PARKING LOTS!”   

The slightly calmer but clearly stressed voice of Steve came over the radio, “Danny?”

“Civilian just drove into the parking lot Steve!” he managed to tone it down from a yell as he had just drawn the attention of the gun man again, “Damn it, here comes another one!”

“Shut down all entrances and exits to the Kahala Mall.  NOW!”  Steve’s voice came across the radio, Danny recognised the tone that said he was in Super SEAL mode and someone was going to pay for the mistake that had led to civilians being able to access an area where armed felons were on the loose.  Sure that he could now leave the securing of the mall to Steve, even if he wasn’t here, Danny turned his attention back to the man trying to shoot him and Kai.

It seemed, having seen one vehicle drive past him, the robber had come up with a plan.  He had obviously had two guns, because he was now firing simultaneously at both Danny and Kai.  It wasn’t accurate, but it was effective.  When the shooting stopped and Danny was able to get a clear view, it was to see the man waving a gun in the face of a young woman as he pulled her from her vehicle and threw her to the ground, before he could do anything the robber was tearing off down the car park.

“My baby!” The woman cried, “My baby is in the truck!”

“Suspect is now driving a dark blue Colorado, do NOT fire on the vehicle there is a baby in it…” Danny spoke into his mic before yelling to Kai, “Check on the woman…” then he was off running across the parking lot.

The truck couldn’t go particularly fast round the lot and there was no way out except one exit, Danny could cut across and hopefully reach the truck before it could make it to that exit.  With a child now involved, HPD may not be able to prevent the truck leaving the mall parking lot.

Danny ran halfway across the lot before he was ahead of the truck.  Assessing a point where the man would have to slow down, Danny waited.  When the truck slowed to take a corner it was enough for the Detective to launch himself onto the side and grab hold of the steering wheel through the open window, his feet on the running board.  If he’d had time to think about it he would probably have cringed at the lecture this move would elicit from Steve, but he didn’t have time.  He had to stop this truck!

The driver had been caught totally by surprise and dropped his gun on the floor, which was lucky for Danny, as he had needed to holster his own weapon to enable him to use both hands.  The two men struggled and as the truck rounded the corner and straightened up the robber put his foot on the accelerator.  Danny was hanging on for all he was worth.  He managed to glance in the back of the truck and the baby was actually fast asleep, none the wiser about the drama unfolding.

Turning his attention back to the parking lot in front of him, he noticed that the driver was now heading towards the left side of the row of cars and he knew exactly what he was going to do.  The man was going to try to dislodge Danny by running into the parked cars.  Really there was no try about it, the speed they were doing, even in the confines of the parking lot, if Danny was caught by one of the parked cars he was toast.  Grabbing the steering wheel he fought for control and managed to swerve the car away to the right.

The robber had clearly had enough and bent Danny’s fingers back on his right hand enough to cause the Detective to lose his grip on the steering wheel, then with a quick elbow to his face and a blow to his left arm he lost his grip completely and tumbled to the asphalt.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve had been pacing the security office at the Royal Hawaiian Center since he had heard that the suspects had spotted something and split up.  As much as he wanted to rush over to Kahala and back up his partner he couldn’t.  He had a job to do here, just as Kono had over at Waikiki shopping plaza. 

_“SHUT DOWN THE PARKING LOTS!”_ Danny’s voice came through in his ear loud and clear.

“Danny?” Steve needed to know what the problem was.  He knew Danny would have his hands full trying to ensure the runner that had headed his way was apprehended.

“Civilian just drove into the parking lot Steve!” This was said in a much quieter voice. “Damn it, here comes another one!”

Steve couldn’t believe that HPD had allowed civilians into the parking lots around the mall, after the call went out that the suspects were on the run.  He couldn’t be there for his partner by physically backing him up, but he could damn well support him verbally.  “Shut down all entrances and exits to the Kahala Mall.  NOW!”

When the SEAL heard that Danny’s suspect was now in a vehicle and there was a baby in it he decided enough was enough and he was going to head over there.  It was clear that there was going to be no attempt at the other two malls now.  He turned to HPD Sergeant Hale and told him he was now in charge, before running to his truck and jumping behind the wheel.

Eight minutes later Steve was pulling up to the mall and had been listening to the constant sit reps over the radio from the units on scene.  Danny and Officer Kai Kealoha were on the east side of the mall trying to stop their suspect but that area had now been locked down.  Two other suspects had somehow managed to slip through the net that had been set up and disappeared; the fourth was on the west side and had managed to take a hostage before backing himself into a corner.  Steve was torn.  On the one hand there was Danny and Kealoha trying to stop a fleeing man with a baby in the vehicle he’d jacked; on the other there was a hostage situation with potentially inexperienced officers in charge. 

Realising there was no choice.  He trusted Danny, knew him and what he could handle.  He didn’t know the officers that were dealing with the hostage situation and he was now the senior member of law enforcement on scene, so he silently wished Danny luck before turning in the direction of the hostage situation.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

The air whooshed out of Danny as he hit the asphalt and skidded along it before coming to a stop.  Nothing registered but that he’d lost the chance to stop the truck and he was back on his feet and running again before the truck made the next corner.

Reaching the next aisle he looked up to see Kai and three other officers with their weapons now trained on a stopped truck.  He approached slowly to find the robber with his hands in the air as Kai grabbed him and pulled his hands, none too gently, behind his back to cuff him.

Danny came up to the gathered officers, who just eyed him warily and backed off.  Looking at Kai, “How…?” he asked.

“Apparently the baby began to cry,” He indicated the still screaming child in the backseat, “and startled him.  His automatic response was to stop the truck!”  Kai handed the cuffed man to the awaiting HPD officers.

Shaking his head Danny approached the truck and opened the back door, “Hey there,” he spoke softly to the baby before reaching in and unbuckling the straps of the car seat, “Your Mom is worried about you, how about we get you back to her and get you both checked out, huh?” Lifting the baby gently into his arms he rocked her gently, the little pink shorts and t-shirt giving away the sex of the child.

“EMTs should be here already, they just need the all clear to enter the scene,” Kai informed him.

“Go ahead and give them the all clear then,” Danny smiled at Kai.

“Yes Sir!” The Officer spoke into his radio, “EMTs are now cleared to enter the east parking lot.”

The two men walked away from the truck to where Kai had left the woman in the capable hands of a female officer, as he ran to provide Danny with back up.  As they approached the woman saw them and ran to meet them.

“Oh my god, Lila, is she alright?”

“She’s just fine Ma’am.  Slept through most of the drama,” Danny eased the baby into her Mom’s waiting arms.  “She’s beautiful.”

The woman looked at him with tears pouring down her cheeks, “Thank you.  Thank you both so much.”

“Just doing our jobs.  The EMT’s will want to take a look at you both,” he indicated the two men waiting by an ambulance that had pulled up.

“Oh, OK, yes, thank you again,” she allowed the female officer to usher her towards the waiting ambulance.

Turning his attention back to Kai, “Where are we at with the other three suspects?” he looked a bit sheepish, “Kind of lost track of everyone.”

“Not surprised, considering you were hanging off a truck!” retorted Kai, “Two vanished into thin air, one is over on the west side, has a hostage.”

“Shit!” Danny started to walk away to head over there.

“Er, Danny…” Kai stopped him, hesitant to interfere.

“What’s up Kai?” Danny thought the kid had earned his respect.  He had backed him up without question.

“Well a couple of things.  Commander McGarrett’s over there handling the situation…”

Interrupting Danny said, “Well I had better get over there then, before Super SEAL blows the mall up to distract the perp!”

“Danny wait!”

Not quite so patient this time, “What?”

Kai gently took his elbow and led him over to the side away from anyone who may over hear their conversation, “I think maybe you should get the EMTs to check you out first.”

“What?  Why?  I’m fine,” he gave it some thought; “Do you mean my tumble earlier?  Which, by the way, I’d really rather you didn’t mention to Steve!”

“I don’t think this could be referred to as fine, Danny,” he gently moved his hand off the elbow he was holding and took his wrist and straightened the arm out, turning it slightly for Danny to get a better look.

“Well…” the Detective took a good look at his left arm and raised his eyebrows, “Damn!  Still, need to go over to back Steve up, I’ll worry about this afterwards.”

Before Kai could protest any further, another call came over the radio, _“Hostage situation resolved, suspect in custody.”_

“EMTs?”

“Nope.”

“Danny you can’t leave this…”

“Not going to, you’re going to drive me to the ER,” now that the hostage situation was resolved he could go and see about getting his arm looked at without worrying about Steve.

“I am?”

“Yes Kai, you are,” Danny started to walk off towards where he’d left the Camaro.

Kai just shook his head before falling into step with the Detective, “Shouldn’t you tell Commander McGarrett?” he was exasperated when Danny just shook his head, “Do you really think you can hide this from him?”

“Hide what?  I’m not hiding anything.”

“So you’re going to tell him about getting knocked from a moving truck and the road rash?”

“I didn’t say that either!  I am merely not going to mention it unless he asks.”

“What if someone else mentions it?”

“Did anyone else see?”

“Well no, I don’t think so.”

“Then if you don’t say anything…”  
“I won’t lie.”

“Not asking you to, just don’t come out and tell anyone.  If asked you tell the truth.”

Kai gave a long suffering sigh that would have sounded to any of the other 5-0 team members as if Kai had been dealing with them for years, rather than just weeks and he nodded his agreement.

“Good,” he handed over the keys to the Camaro, “I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to drive,” he answered the questioning look.

“Do you want to just go to Queens?”

“Might as well, they’re used to dealing with us there!” Not that Danny was particularly proud of that fact, but at least he knew some of the staff.

Fifteen minutes later they were at the hospital and the receptionist had booked Danny in and told him to take a seat.

“Shouldn’t you tell someone where you are?” Kai was still worried.

“Once the doctor has taken a look I will.  No point having them all worrying when it’s just a graze.”

Kai wanted to protest, the weeping ‘graze’ looked more like someone had rubbed Danny’s skin with a cheese grater but he’d tried numerous times to persuade the Detective to let someone know and he didn’t want to keep pressing.  At least he had someone with him, if he kept on Danny might send him back to HPD.

“Danny?”

Looking up the man in question groaned quietly, “Hello Doctor Jensen.”

“Come on through,” the Doctor gestured.

“I’ll wait here.”

“Oh no, Kai, you’re coming with me so I can keep an eye on you!”

Rolling his eyes but not arguing the HPD officer followed the other two men back to one of the trauma cubicles.

“You know, I’m not even on duty in the ER today,” Doctor Jensen informed Danny conversationally.

“Er, so why are you treating me then?”

“Nobody else wants anything to do with 5-0 when I’m in the hospital, no matter where I am!  I can’t say that I’m particularly flattered!”

“Well that makes two of us Doc!”

“OK, so what’s the problem today?”

“I’ve grazed my arm…”  
“Grazed?” The doctor raised an eyebrow.  The idea of this particular patient presenting himself, willingly, at the ER for a graze was more than a little unbelievable.

“It’s more than a graze Danny!”

“Oh, excuse me.  Doctor Jensen, this is Officer Kai Kealoha.  He was working on an operation with me today and he pointed out the graze and thought it should be checked.”

“Nice to meet you Officer Kealoha, please don’t take any lessons out of 5-0’s book on dealing with injuries!”

“Er, nice to meet you to Doctor Jensen.  I’ll try not to!”

“Show me this ‘graze’ then…”  Danny manoeuvred his body so that the doctor could easily see his left arm, “Danny!” he admonished, “I have to agree with Officer

Kealoha, that is not just a graze!”

“In my defence I can’t really see it properly…”

“Uh huh,” Doctor Jensen stuck his head out of the curtained area and called for a nurse, “Eve, can you please get me sterile bags of saline, gauze and dressings.  I need to wash out some road rash.  Oh and five of morphine as well,” he drew his head back in.

“No need for morphine,” Danny protested.

“Cleaning that up is going to hurt, so you’ll take the pain relief!” ordered Doctor Jensen.  The nurse returned with the requested supplies, Danny was instructed to undo his pants and the morphine was administered to much grumbling, “Eve, can you get Danny out of his shirt please.”

“Yes Doctor,” she quickly pulled a pair of scissors out of her pocket and cut up the left sleeve and along the shoulder removing the now destroyed shirt.

“The vest will have to come off too.”

Danny undid the velcro and the nurse lifted it over his head from the front and started to pull it off his back.

“Ow!  Shit!”

“Danny?” Doctor Jensen swung round from where he was setting up the supplies to clean the road rash on his arm.  His patient had gone a distinct shade of white and had his eyes closed.

“Er,” Kai was standing behind Danny and had seen exactly why removing the vest had caused the Detective to swear, “You might want to look at this Doctor Jensen.”

Walking around the doctor saw what had happened, “Going to need some more supplies Eve.  Also I need an IV to be set up and five more of morphine.”

“What’s going on?  I don’t want an IV or more pain relief, I’ve just had some!”

“Danny, when you got the road rash on your arm you also got some down the left side of your back and it’s deep.  It’s going to need to be thoroughly cleaned to prevent infection, same with your arm.  The only reason you have any skin left on your back is because your Kevlar vest provided some degree of protection.”  He held up the remnants of what had once been Danny’s vest, it was well and truly shredded. 

Once the IV was in the back of Danny’s hand further morphine was administered and allowed some time to work.  The remaining article of clothing, a vest, was cut off.

 “OK Danny, first we’re going to pour saline over your wounds to wash away any surface dirt, then we’ll have to remove any dead skin and then we’ll use some sterile gauze to wipe away any deeper dirt.  We need to ensure we thoroughly clean this up or you could end up with an infection.  Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” mumbled Danny.

“Very well, let’s get started.”  The Doctor nodded to Eve who opened a bag of cooled saline.  “We’re about to start washing the wounds out.”  Eve slowly and steadily poured the contents of several bags of saline over the Detective’s back and arm.  Once she was done Doctor Jensen got a better look at the damage done, “Danny, this needs debridement…”  
“It needs what?”

“Debridement, I need to remove damaged tissue from around the wounds.  It’s then going to need to be scrubbed to get rid of any bits of dirt and asphalt that have made their way deeper into the wounds.  It’s got to be done in a sterile environment so we’re going to need to take you to the OR to do it.  You’ll be sedated.”

“OR?  Sedated?”

“Yes Danny.  I’m going to go and get an OR booked, I’ll be back shortly.”

Eve gently dried Danny off while Kai looked on trying to figure out a way to broach the subject of telling the rest of 5-0 what was going on.

“Kai, pass me my cell please?” asked Danny, saving the young officer the trouble.  When he checked it he discovered that it wasn’t working.  Clearly his exploits with the truck had caused the cell damage as well.  Kai handed Danny his, “Thanks.”

Dialling a number from memory he waited for the person on the other end to pick up. “Kelly.”

“Chin its Danny.”

“Hey, Steve’s been trying to reach you, we all have.  Where are you?”

“I had a little bit of a thing and got a bit of a graze…”

“Is that Danny?” he heard Steve’s steely tone in the background and cringed.  He wondered if it was too late to get Kai to talk to the team, or even better Doctor Jensen.  Out of luck and out of time Chin put the phone on speaker.  “Danny, where the hell are you?!”

“Er, yeah, there was this thing and I needed to get something checked…”

Kai rolled his eyes and received a glare for his trouble.  The officer just did a rolling motion with his hand, indicating that he should get it over and done with.

“Thing?  Checked?  What are you talking about?  You should be here interrogating the man you arrested!”

“Well technically that was Kai…”  
“And where is he?”

“Er, with me.”

“You should both be here!”

“We will be, in fact I’ll send Kai back now and he can give you a hand, I’ll be back as soon as I can…”  
“Alright Danny…” Doctor Jensen entered the cubicle not paying attention to what was going on.    
“Was that Doctor Jensen’s voice I heard?” Steve asked.

“No, no, no, that was not Doctor Jensen’s voice,” he shot the man in question a look and placed a finger to his lips.

“Chin, trace the call…” Steve instructed.

“Alright, alright!  I’m at Queens.  There was a little bit of an incident in the parking lot and I needed to come to the ER!”  Danny groaned inwardly knowing that Steve wouldn’t leave it alone now.

“What incident?  How badly are you hurt?  No, you know what?  I’m coming over there…”  
“There’s really no need…” dial tone was all that Danny heard, “Well shit!  Doc what are the chances of getting me to the OR and knocking me out in the next five minutes?”

Doctor Jensen grinned, figuring that Danny had been on the phone with his partner and he was trying to avoid said partner, “None I’m afraid, that’s what I was coming to tell you.  No OR available for about an hour,” he turned to the nurse, “Eve, can you please cover those wounds and help Danny get more comfortable until we’re ready to move him to the OR.”

“Of course Doctor Jensen,” Eve smiled and quickly did as asked; changing the cover on the gurney to a dry one she insisted her patient lay down.  Rolling his eyes he settled on his right side giving a baleful glare at Kai.

“No telling Steve exactly what happened!  In fact, don’t say anything at all.”

“I told you, I won’t lie.”

“I’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t ask you any questions then, won’t I?  Why don’t you go and get a drink?” He watched as Kai nodded, “Oh and Kai?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Smiling Kai left Danny in peace and he closed his eyes dreading the visit he knew was imminent.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Striding into the ER with Chin and Kono hot on his heels Steve spotted Doctor Jensen, “Where’s Danny?”

“Hello to you too Steve!”

“Sorry.  Hi Doctor Jensen.  How’s Danny?”

“He needs some debridement on a wound so I’m waiting for an OR to become available,” the doctor was purposefully vague knowing Danny hadn’t told his team what had happened.

“Can we see him?” asked Kono.

“This way,” he led the three to a curtained cubicle and left them to it.

All three stopped and looked at their friend dozing on the gurney in front of them, taking in the paleness of his skin and the dressing wrapped around his left arm and back.  Steve sat down in a chair next to the bed and waited.  He didn’t have long to wait, as his partner had heard them enter and was just gathering his energy for answering the questions he knew were coming.

“Hey,” he spoke softly as he opened his eyes.

“So, what happened?” Steve waved a hand at the dressings.

“Just some scrapes.”

“What happened?” repeated Steve.  He knew damn well, since before he left the Palace he’d overheard some HPD officers talking about Detective Williams’ impression of a stuntman.

“A bit of an argument with a truck, that’s all.”

“Danny,” the SEAL was trying to remain calm, he really was, but his partner was being purposely obtuse and it was annoying as hell, “Stop hedging and just tell me.  What. Happened?”

“I chased the suspect after he stole the truck and kind of got in the way.  Got knocked over…”

“Uh huh.  Want to try that again?  Maybe adding in the fact that you jumped onto a moving vehicle with an armed suspect in it?!”

Danny visibly cringed, “It wasn’t really like that….”

“No?  You know what; we’re not having this conversation right now.  Do you know why?”

“Er, no.”

“Because you’re waiting to have surgery of sorts and I happen to know that road rash, don’t look so surprised, of course I know you’ve got road rash given you fell from a moving vehicle, I happen to know it hurts like hell.”

“Oh,” Danny really wasn’t used to this reasonable side of Steve given he knew that the man must be angry that he hadn’t told him about what he’d done and that he’d been hurt doing it.

“We will be having a conversation about this though when you come to stay with me, again, while you recover.  Do I make myself clear Detective Williams?”

“Crystal,” mumbled Danny.

“Now, how are you feeling?”

“Eh, you know… Doc gave me morphine so dull throb.”

“Danny,” Doctor Jensen entered the cubicle, “Good news, OR is free, so let’s get you up there,” an orderly made his way in and Danny was taken to the OR, “You can sit in the waiting room if you like or I can call you when he’s ready to be released?”

“Call when he’s ready to be released please.  Thanks Doc.”

Kai was waiting outside relieved that somehow Commander McGarrett knew what had happened.  He held out the keys to the Camaro, which made Steve smile, “Thanks Kai.  Why don’t you drive it back to the Palace, Kono go with him.  Then we can get on with the interrogation of our two suspects.”

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve unlocked the front door and ushered Chin into the house since he was helping a still slightly wobbly Danny.

Kono hurried into the kitchen to get what they needed for the take away they had picked up on the way back from the hospital, leaving Steve and Chin to get their friend as comfortable as possible on the couch.  The team mates then sat and ate in relative quiet.

Danny wasn’t particularly hungry but he forced himself to eat.  He knew that he was due a lecture and really just wanted it over and done with.

Chin and Kono didn’t really want to be there, since they also knew Steve was upset with Danny over his antics at the mall earlier but felt that they needed to be there to help if things got a little heated.

Steve was busy thinking of how to say what he needed and wanted to without completely ruining their friendship.

After fifteen minutes of silence Danny couldn’t take it any longer, “Can you just get it over with already?”

“What?” replied Steve looking up from his intense examination of the food he was hardly eating.

“The yelling.”

“I’m not going to yell Danny.”

“No?  I would!” He knew it was the truth.  If Steve had pulled a stunt like he had earlier the rant that he would have dished out would have been of epic proportions.

“Sure yelling might make me feel better.  Might even make you feel better but I’m not sure you’d actually hear what I was saying.  I know that you yell at me when you’re upset, because I’ve scared you or gone over the top.  That’s your thing, not mine.  It’s how you show that you care.”

“That’s… Wow… Er,” Danny wasn’t sure if he was particularly comfortable with this version of Steve, not exactly warm and fuzzy, but trying to verbalise how he was feeling.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything for a while that tells or shows you that I worry about you and care about what happens to you.  So this is what is gonna happen.  I’m going to tell you how hearing about what you did made me feel, as uncomfortable as I am talking about it I need you to hear it and understand where I’m coming from.  Chin and Kono can chime in whenever they feel the need, you will listen, silently.  Clear?”

“OK.”

“I can’t believe that you were so stupid!  You could have gone under the wheels of the truck and been killed.  You could have been shot.  The truck could have crashed.  You’re not a stuntman!  The worst part though had to be hearing what you had done, not from you, my best friend, my second in command, but from overhearing a conversation between HPD officers.  You were injured and you didn’t tell me until you had no choice.  I am angry at you for that,” the tone of Steve’s voice changed and the underlying anger and tension could now be heard.  The SEAL took a deep breath, determined not to lose his temper.  Danny didn’t need that right now and honestly, if he could have he would have left this conversation for the following day, but Danny had been vibrating with anxiety since they got back to the hospital to get Danny.

“I think what you did was brave, stupid, but brave,” Kono decided to put in her thoughts, “I get why you did it and I’m pretty sure that any one of us would have done the same thing,” she glared at the other two men daring them to deny it, they didn’t.  “I’m with Steve; not telling us you were hurt was the absolute worst thing.”

“You did absolutely the right thing getting to the ER, nobody can deny that, but I was in the office co-ordinating things and even if you didn’t want to disturb Steve or Kono, you could have called me to tell me you were on the way to the ER to be checked over.  I know you called eventually but as Steve said it was when you had no choice.  I wonder now if you hadn’t needed to go to the OR would you have even told us,” Chin’s normal voice of reason was as hard to stomach as Steve’s because Danny knew that they all had a point.

“I’m proud of this team and what we achieve.  You do great work Danny, and maybe I don’t tell you that enough but I never thought you would purposely avoid telling me you were hurt.  Under play an injury?  Definitely.  Not mention it at all?  No.”  Steve looked at Danny and saw that he’d heard every word they’d said and now he had the right to say how he felt, “I think I’ve said all I wanted to.” Chin and Kono both nodded.

“I’m not going to apologise for what I did when I jumped on that truck, I’d do it again if I thought I could protect someone, like that baby girl.  Had she not been in the truck I wouldn’t have done it.  I know that I’ve yelled at you, Steve, for similar stunts but I’d like to think that if it had been to save a life, I would be able to understand after my heart rate had come down out of the stratosphere.  We’ve got very different ways of achieving the same goals.  Sometimes my way is better and sometimes yours is, we’re finding our balance with that now,” Danny gave a small smile, “I will apologise for not telling you I was hurt.  Honestly when Kai pointed it out I didn’t think it was anything much and I’d be in and out the ER.  Then when I got back to the office I could tell you about it and you’d be able to see that there was nothing to fuss over.  It wasn’t until they removed my vest that I knew it was worse, once Doctor Jensen had cleaned it and said it needed me to go to the OR, then I knew it was time to let you know.  Maybe I should have done it sooner but I wouldn’t have hidden it from you if I hadn’t needed the OR.  I promise.”

The four sat in silence looking at each other.  They were all a bit uncomfortable now.  It was so out of character for them to actually sit and discuss things like this but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

“Alright, enough said,” Steve stated, gaining agreement from everyone else.  Looking more carefully at Danny, he noticed the discomfort the other man was now in and it wasn’t due to their conversation, “Come on Danny, the guest room is all ready for you,” he pulled him to his feet and Kono handed him a fresh bottle of water and his pain medication.

“Thanks.  Night,” It was a much quieter Danny than usual that slowly made his way up the stairs to the guest room but as he took his medication and then got into bed he knew that no matter what problems the team faced, they’d work it out, whether through quiet conversation or yelling!


End file.
